“How many companies have been around for 200 years?” says David Lank. “I can’t think of many, so McGill must be doing something right.”
Lank, a former professor at the Desautels Faculty of Management and Director Emeritus of the Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship, is leaving a bequest to McGill as part of the University’s 200 for 200 Legacy Challenge. “McGill is dedicated to building a better world, and I want to see it carry on.”
Lank is not a McGill graduate. But his connections to the institute are formidable: the McGill Alumni Association awarded him an Honorary Life Membership Award in 1996. By that time he’d already been a frequent guest lecturer, a volunteer with the McGill Library, Chairman of the McCord Museum, and President of the McGill Associates.
He joined the Desautels Faculty of Management in 1999, going on to win the Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate Studies and the McGill Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Outside of McGill he pursued dual careers in investment management and entrepreneurship, co-founding Helix Investments, one of Canada’s earliest venture capital firms. He’s also a prolific writer, with interests in natural history, fine art, architecture, and more.
So when it came to his bequest, why did McGill come to mind?
“My alma mater, Princeton, does not need me,” says Lank. “But McGill does. It needs people like me – who’ve had the opportunity to teach and interact with students, who’ve been involved in leadership roles – to give back. And quite frankly, a legacy gift is a very easy way to do it.”
Lank’s bequest will support the McGill Library’s Blacker-Wood Collection, which includes over 2 million artifacts in zoology, ornithology, and biology. He’s also made a joint gift with his wife, Ann Vroom, to fund a reading nook as part of the Fiat Lux Library Building Project.
“The Library is the focus of the University. It doesn’t have any graduates, but it’s the one place all McGill graduates have spent their time. I can’t think of something that will impact McGill students more.”
Lank considers his bequest “a no-brainer. It doesn’t impact your current financial situation, and it extends your involvement with McGill for generations yet unborn. It just makes sense.”
What will your legacy be?
McGill is celebrating its 200th anniversary with the goal of securing 200 legacy gifts. For more information, please contact us.
